Wednesday 25 July 2018

INTERIORS: Living room update

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

We've been in our house for over a year and a half now, and there's still so much that we haven't got round to doing. It's amazing how long you can live with things when you see them every day. The good news is that there's nothing major - a little bit of peeling paint after a leak that we haven't got round to sorting (we sorted the leaks, we're not animals), a few shelves we want to put up, painting and wallpapering and whatnot.


One of the rooms that we have pretty much finished is our living room, which we actually got to a good point quite quickly. When we first moved in, the whole house was painted yellow inside, so we covered that with white pretty sharpish and had a blank canvas to work with. Here's the before picture, just to remind you:



And the after:

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

We moved in this sofa suite from DFS - despite it being a small room, we could comfortably fit in a 4-seater sofa along with this oh-so-cosy cuddler seat. Then we started to decide what colours went with the teal, and despite being so desperate to get rid of it initially, yellow won out. It really pops, without looking too garish. Our yellow chevron curtains were an absolute bargain from Very, and the various cushions are from Dunelm, except for the blue ones which came with the sofa.

This is the most comfortable sofa EVER by the way. It's super deep and soft, and it gives great nap.

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

The photos above our sofa are all pictures I took in places we visited, and I printed them through Aldi photos (because they were cheap!) and got the frames from Amazon. They're A3 pictures, surprisingly - I always think they don't look that big! We looked at various prints and things for this space, before settling on the photo idea. Much more personal.

We put in fitted shelves on either side of the fireplace. You absolutely don't need a professional carpenter to do something like this (although we are lucky that Matt's Dad fits bedrooms and kitchens for a living) - we measured the space and headed to B&Q to get shelves cut to size. This was so easy - we picked out the wood and a guy in the store cut them for us. Then we fitted them onto copper brackets and the job was done! Matt thinks my rainbow-hued bookshelves are wanky, but I like them. And yes, I split up the Harry Potter books. Get over it, guys.

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

It was challenging to find a TV unit to fit into the alcoves, and this actually doesn't - there's a big gap behind it! But with our massive TV (Matt's doing) we didn't have much choice, and I think it works. The unit was from Tesco, and matches our nesting coffee tables. (RIP Tesco Direct) Because there isn't tons of space, we wanted coffee tables we could put away and these are perfect. We also have a tiny, skinny coffee table down one side of the sofa which is super handy for drinks - this was a budget TV stand from Ikea (I think it was £9!).

One of the last things we had to do was replace the light. We had this horrible metal and wood light that was there when we moved in, which didn't go with the room at all and really dominated it. First Choice Lighting got in touch and asked if I wanted to choose something, and I chose this simple set. Low Victorian ceilings meant that a big, statement light is out - so I wanted something classic that would sit close to the ceiling. I actually can't believe how well it goes with the room. No, it's not a statement, but that wasn't what I was after. It's functional and bright, and perfect.

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

The best part was that it was a set of two, so we installed the other set in our bedroom, replacing the questionable crystal beaded triple lightshade which always seemed like an odd choice for the middle-aged single guy we bought our house off, but each to their own.

And the SECOND best part was that we'd managed to function without a light in our living room for actual months while we attempted to get our shit together enough to get the new one installed. So now we get to actually see what we're doing of an evening now (usually eating dinner on the sofa like classy people). Like I said, it's amazing what you can live with.

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves

The only other thing I'd like to do with this room is to paint the fireplace. I'm not a fan of the beige marble, so I'd like to paint it cream and then spray the gold grate black. Maybe swap the hideous fake coals for some chunky white candles. Ideally I'd like to rip this whole thing out and replace it with a beautiful iron fireplace, but it's not a priority right now. One of the things I've learned about buying a house is that you quickly make a mental list of things you NEED to do and things you WANT to do. And then another list of things you'd LIKE to do but probably won't spend the money on, unless you plan on staying there for a really long time. Like swapping the kitchen cabinets for prettier ones (I loved Gemma's budget makeover), or replacing the old but actually fine carpets.

I think the next room we'll tackle will be our bedroom. I want to find some cool wallpaper and replace the curtains, and give the all-white room a bit of an update. Oh - and we need to get some wedding photos up on the wall, of course!

Essbeevee interiors update Victorian terrace house Hertfordshire fireplace yellow blue teal turquoise accents rainbow book shelves
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1 comment

  1. Love what you've done so far though! And the sofa looks super comfy!

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